The Legend of the Condor Heroes: Starting from the Bodyguard

Chapter 50 Taking Charge Alone, the Remnants of the Demonic Cult
When Zhang Wangyue saw Sun Bu'er attacking the bandits alone, he secretly cried out in alarm.

Bandits can be thieves on horseback and civilians on foot. These bandits are ruthless. To avoid being exposed, they target their enemies and eliminate them completely, leaving no one alive.

However, these bandits also have their flaws. They are arrogant but actually have shallow skills. They rely on their intimidation and dare to fight to the death.

The strong fear the reckless, and the reckless fear the fearless—that's the truth. There are many examples of martial artists with good foundations encountering a daredevil; even though their skills are clearly superior, they become weak in the knees, their moves become distorted, and they end up being killed.

When faced with such bandits, Sun Zhenren skillfully maneuvered with his agility and swordsmanship, taking on ten opponents at once and killing them one by one without any difficulty.

But there is another type of bandit, mainly composed of outlaws and deserters. They possess superb horsemanship, strict discipline, and ruthless methods. Most importantly, they come and go like wildfire, their whereabouts are unpredictable, and each of them is highly skilled. There may even be a master strategist in charge.

Zhang Wangyue easily discerned from the bandits' fierce momentum and formation that the suddenly appearing bandits were the latter.

Seeing Sun Bu'er rush out, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) shouted orders to his bodyguards and escorts to prepare their bows, arrows, hidden weapons, and fishing nets. In an instant, he shot out like an angry arrow.

Casualties have already occurred.

The night watchman was desperately trying to get closer to the caravan when the sound of hooves suddenly amplified behind him. The watchman turned around and swung his knife, but a large spear with a trembling "hum" suddenly thrust in, piercing the watchman's chest and exiting through his back. It then lifted him high into the air, propelling him several feet before his body fell to the ground as the bandit pulled out his spear.

Sun Bu'er then realized that she had been reckless. In her field of vision, two swords and a spear were attacking from the left and right sides, one in the center.

The force of the sword, the spear, and the charge of the horse swept over us, causing the strands of hair at our temples to fly wildly.

In a flash, Qingjing Sanren realized that if he used the "Golden Goose Skill," he could avoid the spear thrusts in front of him and even kill a few people. But what would happen after that? The galloping cavalry would trample him into a bloody pulp.

A sharp whistling sound swept past Sun Bu'er's head in an instant; three arrows flew in quick succession, striking the three men who were thrusting at Sun Bu'er with spears.

With two sharp "plop" sounds, the heads of the two bandits jerked back, black hair and red blood splattering in the night. The bandit to Sun Bu'er's left tilted his head in a flash, and with a short "hiss" sound, a foot-long wound appeared on his cheek, the red and white veins and muscles curling back to both sides, the bloodstains blurring and quite shocking.

Zhou Yan had already joined the group. Seeing that Sun Bu'er was in danger, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) rushed out and fired three arrows in quick succession.

"Turn on the communication tube!" Zhou Yan shouted urgently.

This is a judgment based on common sense. From Zhongdu to Jingzhou, he and Huyan Lei, Wang Kui and others escorted mules and horses, and had repeatedly seen hundreds of mules and horses galloping with magnificent momentum, their hooves shattering the earth.

The caravan has over a hundred guards and escorts. Hu Yanlei, Wang Kui, and Shi Baichuan are all skilled fighters. They can easily take on two or more enemies on horseback. So, if the strategy is right, they have nothing to fear from these bandits. However, if the enemy launches a concentrated attack, that would be a different story.

Hu Yanlei was also aware of this problem, but he was at a loss for a solution.

It's the same old problem: within an outdated mindset, even the most advanced teaching becomes meaningless repetition. The bodyguard knew the problem, but couldn't immediately adopt a reactive approach.

Zhou Yan's words were undoubtedly a wake-up call.

The caravan was about to arrive in Jingzhou. From the镖师 (bodyguards) down to the 行子 (porters), everyone breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. However, thanks to the caravan's strict rule of never letting their clothes or weapons leave their bodies during the journey, everyone immediately prepared to fight, having already gathered their everyday equipment. Zhou Yan's words were a wake-up call; six or seven 行子 lit their flare guns and pointed them at the bandit group.

"Sizzle... Bang!"

Brilliant fireworks exploded amidst the procession of people and horses.

Zhou Yan made the right bet.

Let alone bandits of this era, even the iron cavalry of the army had not undergone bomb protection training. Occasionally, there were elite cavalrymen, but they had only undergone training in protecting their horses from smoke and fire.

The bandit's horse was startled, and a series of loud neighs filled the air as red fireworks exploded directly on the heads of the charging, tall horse.

The horse suddenly lurched forward, rolling on the ground like a collapsing wall, and the sound of bones breaking echoed eerily.

Hu Yanlei was overjoyed to see the effect. He grabbed his gold-inlaid tiger-head spear and rushed to Sun Bu'er's aid, saying as he ran, "Brother Zhou, well done!" Changing his tone, Hu Yanlei shouted, "Fire out all the flamethrowers, leave none behind. If the bandits try to break in, don't panic, use tripwires, fishing nets, and dark blue bullets."

The performance of Zhou Yan, Hu Yanlei and others undoubtedly calmed down the initially panicked guards, who then followed the bodyguards in their respective sections and stood ready for battle, while some skilled archers took up their bows and shot at long distances.

At that moment, Zhang Wangyue arrived at Sun Bu'er's side and punched the side of the charging warhorse's neck. The horse neighed and shook its head violently. The镖头's body sank, and a powerful "Iron Mountain Lean" landed on the horse.

The horse was shoved off with a "thud" and crashed into a rider beside it. Both the horse and rider rolled into a heap. Zhang Wangyue flicked his toe to lift the fallen spear and thrust it out, piercing the heads of the two bandits.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Sun Bu'er struck, and with a flash of sword light, two bandits were already struck by the sword.

The bandit group was thrown into chaos, which gave Qingjing Sanren, who had excellent lightness skills, an opportunity. She leaped up and landed her toes on the head of a bandit. With a forceful downward strike, the bandit's head slumped down with a crack. Then, she used her momentum to land gracefully on another bandit several feet away.

With his hands free, Zhou Yan drew his bow and began shooting, inflicting heavy casualties on the bandits. He moved in parallel with his bow, never missing a shot, killing the bandits who had scattered due to their horses being startled.

The bandits leading the group never expected this outcome. Their horses were startled by the fireworks and scattered, and the enemy still had quite a few skilled fighters.

It was just a镖队 (bodyguard team); even the imperial army didn't have such a setup.

As a leader, he was certainly capable of assessing the situation. He was not far from Jingzhou, which would easily alert the garrison. Moreover, he saw that the enemy's counterattack was fierce, and he had already lost the initiative, so there was no chance of success.

That was truly decisive. The leader was unwilling, but he knew that if he couldn't do it, leaving was the best option.

With a whistle, the troops were signaled to retreat.

They were truly well-trained; the bandits who had come roaring in were wiped out in just a few dozen breaths.

Some were bandits who were shot by the scouts and fell to the ground, but luckily survived.

Without Zhou Yan giving any instructions, a group of interrogators immediately took bamboo paper, soaked it with water, and began their interrogation.

The air was filled with a nauseating stench of blood. Zhou Yan walked over to Zhang Wangyue, Sun Bu'er, and the others.

Hu Yanlei said, "If it weren't for Brother Zhou's quick thinking and his idea of ​​using fireworks to scare the horses, it would have been extremely difficult to easily repel the enemy this time."

Zhang Wangyue nodded, still feeling a lingering fear.

Zhou Yan said, "It was a sudden inspiration, and I never expected it to actually work."

"After that, we found a good way to deal with the bandits' concentrated attacks. These thieves tried to steal a chicken but lost their rice instead." Huyan Lei said, looking at the dozen or so horses that had been abandoned after the bandits died.

"Does the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) know the origins of these thieves? They are truly vicious," Sun Bu'er asked.

"We'll have the results soon," Zhou Yan replied.

At the Fenglingdu ferry crossing, Huyan Lei used Zhou Yan's water torture method to interrogate "Iron-Armed Arhat" and "Rolling Tiger," but they couldn't withstand three rounds of torture.

The bandit, after only one round of interrogation, confessed everything.

A bodyguard strode over and said, "The bandits have confessed. They are members of the Demonic Sect and subordinates of Zhang Sanqiang from Jiangxi."

Zhou Yan was taken aback.

"Demon Sect"—that's a familiar term.

(End of this chapter)